NEW YORK – A gunman who announced online that he was planning to shoot two “pigs” in retaliation for the chokehold death of Eric Garner ambushed two police officers in a patrol car and shot them to death in broad daylight Saturday before running to a subway station and killing himself, authorities said.
The suspect, Ismaaiyl Brinsley, wrote on an Instagram account: “I’m putting wings on pigs today. They take 1 of ours, let’s take 2 of theirs,” officials said. He used the hashtags Shootthepolice RIPErivGardner (sic) RIPMikeBrown.
Police said he approached the passenger window of a marked police car and opened fire, striking Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu in the head. The officers were on special patrol in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn.
“They were, quite simply, assassinated – targeted for their uniform. ... They were ambushed and murdered,” said Police Commissioner William Bratton, who looked pale and shaken at a hospital news conference.
Brinsley took off running and went down to a nearby subway station, where he shot himself. A silver handgun was recovered at the scene.
“This may be my final post,” he wrote in the Instagram post that included an image of a silver handgun.
Bratton confirmed that Brinsley made very serious “anti-cop” statements online but did not get into specifics of the posts. He said they were looking at whether the suspect had attended any rallies or demonstrations.
The Rev. Al Sharpton said the family of Garner, killed by a police chokehold this year, had no connection to the suspect and denounced the violence.
“Any use of the names of Eric Garner and Michael Brown in connection with any violence or killing of police is reprehensible and against the pursuit of justice in both cases,” Sharpton said. “We have stressed at every rally and march that anyone engaged in any violence is an enemy to the pursuit of justice for Eric Garner and Michael Brown.”
The shootings come at a tense time. Police in New York are being criticized for their tactics after the death of Garner, who was stopped by police on suspicion of selling loose, untaxed cigarettes. Amateur video captured an officer wrapping his arm around Garner’s neck and wrestling him to the ground. Garner was heard gasping, “I can’t breathe” before he lost consciousness and later died.
“Our city is in mourning. Our hearts are heavy,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio, who spoke softly with moist eyes. “It is an attack on all of us.” Police “are the foundation of our society.”
Demonstrators around the country have staged die-ins and other protests since a grand jury decided Dec. 3 not to indict the officer in Garner’s death, a decision that closely followed a Missouri grand jury’s refusal to indict a white officer in the fatal shooting of Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old.
Tony Herbert, community activist who often speaks out on policing issues, went to the area near the shooting Saturday to express his outrage and his support for police.
“We’ve been denouncing violence in our community,” no matter whom it’s directed at, he said. He’s concerned that some “agitators” might seek to cast the shooting as an outcome amid the anger over Garner’s death.
“It sullies the opportunity for us to make inroads to build the relationships we need to build to get the trust back,” he said.
“This hurts,” he said, shaking his head.
Earlier Saturday, Bratton said, Brinsley went to the home of a former girlfriend in the Baltimore area and shot and wounded her at her home. He said they noticed Brinsley posting to the woman’s Instagram account about a threat to New York officers. Baltimore-area officials sent a warning flier to New York City police, who received it around the time of the shooting, Bratton said.
Associated Press writer Jonathan Lemire contributed to this report.
